Winter conditions may bring out orange match ball

Last week the Colorado Rapids introduced new alternate blue jerseys to go along with the primary burgundy colors. On Saturday, the team could be introducing the color orange into the home opener theme.

The national weather service has issued several winter weather notices for the Denver-metro area for Saturday, with snow accumulation estimates ranging from 8-14 inches. Late on Friday afternoon the Colorado Rapids issued a statement that home opener against Philadelphia - set to kickoff at 4 p.m. MT on Saturday - is still on schedule, though that could change.

Pareja: Weather not a factor

In anticipation of potentially playing in snow, the Rapids mixed in six orange adidas match balls for Friday's training session. The match official would decide if the orange ball is needed to differentiate from snow on the field.

"The team adjusts to anything. We're in Colorado, this is home," head coach Oscar Pareja told ColoradoRapids.com after practice. "Whatever the weather is, we're going to wait for Philadelphia to come and deal with it. We're going to be focused on presenting our team in front of our fans. Weather is not going to be a factor for us."

In addition, the Dick's Sporting Good Park field crew was given permission from Major League Soccer to paint the lines on the stadium pitch orange instead of the traditional white.